Dota2 and “The International 10 (IT10)” become the great and undisputed protagonists of the world scene of events and eSports betting! Everything is ready for the highly anticipated “live in Bucharest”: the tournament with the highest prize pool in history.
After the postponements and location changes imposed by the Covid19 pandemic, the great appointment with The International (TI10) is back!
We are talking about the most important Dota 2 eSports event (final tournament of the Dota Pro Circuit) organized by Valve Corporation.
The competition will begin with the group stage (from 7 to 10 October 2021) and will enter the “heart of the battle” (from 7 to 10 October 2021) with the final stages taking place in Romania at the Arena Națională in Bucharest.
This edition will take place in Europe for the first time since 2011 and, will have a “whopping prize pool” of over 40 million dollars*: this is the main reason that makes TI one of the biggest eSports events on the planet!
*The prize figure started from 1.6 million (sum allocated by Valve); It has grown with the contribution of all users who have purchased the Battle Pass in recent months. This detail is important to understand the enormous range of action and interest that revolves around this appointment
Teams, fans and more … at the Arena Națională in Bucharest.
This extraordinary eSports event, will not only be a great testing ground for teams and their supporters, in fact, for TI0, all the top 100 eSports betting companies in the world, will offer coverage and odds for betting!
Data: “people willing to bet on eSport events will increase by more than 700% in the next 5 years.”. TI10 is ready to contribute to this statistic.
It is therefore no secret that The International 10 (TI10) will be a very important event for all fans of eSports and betting! Below we will provide some previews and useful data to understand which team to bet on!
The International 10 – Competition Format
In battle, there will be 12 teams, qualified through the Dota Pro Circuit and 6 teams qualified by Regional selections*
*one team for each territory: North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, China and Southeast Asia
After the “group qualifiers” and the “knockout stage”, the last 2 finalist teams will face off for the Aegis of Champions on 17 October. Who will be able to take home the coveted loot? Let’s try together to analyze which teams are favorites to win the final.
EG – Evil Geniuses
Evil Geniuses is one of the best teams in the world and is certainly the most important in North America. EG is among the first teams qualified for this TI10.
Best results for this team:
- ONE Esports Singapore Major 2021 – 2nd PLACE
- DPC S2 NA: Upper Division – 2nd PLACE
- WePlay AniMajor – 2nd PLACE
Evil Geniuses brings together the best individual players in the world, most notably Artour “Arteezy” Babaev and Abed Azel L. Yusop. Another superstar that plays an important role for EG is their offlaner: Daryl Koh “iceiceice” Pei Xiang; this player is one of the most recognizable names in Dota 2 because he has been part of many teams. Two players with a lot of experience complete this great team: former OG Andreas Franck “Cr1t-” Nielsen and Tal “Fly” Aizik
TS – Team Secret
Team Secret is one of the most representative teams of Dota2 and despite numerous roster changes, it remains one of the main favorites to win this TI10.
Its performance in TI to date, however, has always disappointed despite the excellent qualifications over the years. The team didn’ t shine in the last official appointments, as evidenced by the fourth place in ONE Esports Singapore Major and in DreamLeague S15 Upper Division. In 2020, however, TS won almost all the online events!
The strongest and most representative players: Puppey, Nigma Lasse Aukusti “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen and Michał “Nisha” Jankowski (one of the most promising players in Dota 2).
VP – Virtus.Pro
Virtus.Pro is among the strongest and most popular teams in Dota2 but It has not yet won a TI, will it be the right edition?
This roster, founded in 2003, has hosted the best players of the Dota2 Circuit over time: names like Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev, Vladimir “No[o]ne” Minenko, Roman “Resolut1on” Fomynok just to name a few.
The history of Virtus.Pro in The International, has been negatively affected by the many roster changes; needless to say, these things hurt the team because new players need time to learn how to play together.
Among the team’s best achievements is the 2020 victory of Division 2 of Season 1 of the EPIC League with a USD 200,000 prize pool
Virtus.Pro has also won seasons 1 and 2 of ESL One CIS Online and certainly has all the requirements to become the TI10 champion, but it won’t be easy!
T1
T1 is one of the few SEA teams and is also known for its achievements in League of Legends.
This is a terrific team! Created by the purchase of the former TNC roster. This is a formidable foe, even against the best Dota 2 teams in the world. That’s why it is among the favorite teams at this The International 10.
T1s won ESL One Summer 2021 against Virtus.Pro and in WePlay AniMajor they finished at 3rd place. The team has good players who have a lot of synergy with each other so they will be tough opponents to beat.
SG – SG Esports
SG Esports is the strongest team in South AMERICA!
Founded in 2016, it’s the first Brazilian team ready to take part in a competition organized by Valve.
In 2019, the SG players split up and the organization had to cease its activities for some time but from 2020 the team is operational again and bought Team Brasil, which also competed in the South American region.
Otávio “Tavo” Gabriel instead of Danylo “Kingrd ” Nascimento are among the most representative players. SG participates in TI10 after passing the Regional Qualifiers.
PSG.LGD
LGD is undoubtedly one of the best teams in the world.
The Chinese Dota 2 scene is the “home of the most talented Dota 2 players in the world”.
Although Dota 2’s professional scene has been dominated by EU teams for the past couple of years, several Chinese powers have been able to tackle them on tiptoe. One such team is PSG.LGD – first Dota 2 teams, partners of a football team: Paris SG.
PSG.LGD managed to secure a pass for TI10 after performing well in the Dota Pro Circuit. This allowed them to compete for the largest prize pool in esports without the need to go through Regional Qualifiers.
PSG.LGD has won most of the tournaments it has participated in, including the China Dota 2 Cup Season 1, CDA-FDC Professional Championship S1, and S2ESL One Birmingham 2020 – Online: China. The team secured a third-place finish at the ONE Esports Singapore Major after losing to IG.
Among the most important players of this team, we find names like Ame, Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang, Zhang “Faith_bian” Ruida.
IG – Invictus Gaming
Invictus Gaming is one of the representatives of China at the upcoming The International 10! IG won The International 9 years ago!
Invictus Gaming has done quite well in most tournaments throughout 2020. The team has consistently made it into the top three or top four and even won the Asia Spring Invitational. IG also finished second in China Dota2 Professional League Season 2 after losing to LGD.PSG.
This 2021 seems to be the best year for the team! They had no problem qualifying for TI10 after winning the DPC S1 China Upper Division. After securing a spot for the biggest event, the Chinese also had the privilege of winning the ONE Esports Singapore Major 2021.
IG is one of the few Dota 2 teams that didn’t make any drastic changes in 2020. In addition to Emo, IG is also hosting Jin “flyfly” Zhiyi, one of the best Chinese players. The 24-year-old superstar is part of other Chinese teams, such as Keen Gaming, Team Serenity, and more.
Another key player for Invictus Gaming is offlaner Thiay “JT-” Jun Wen. Mineski‘s former player may not be as popular as some of his teammates, but that doesn’t mean he’s less important to the club’s success.
OG
OGs are one of the most successful teams in Dota 2 and they are the only organization to win The International twice in a row (2018 and 2019).
However, some roster changes have put this team in a difficult position:
in January, Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka retired and Anathan “ana” Pham took a break, leaving a huge gap in the squad.
OG was quick to bring in refined and experienced players, including Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng, Martin “Saksa” Sazdov, and Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan but it didn’t help to raise the level.
The poor performance led OG to pass the regional qualifiers for this TI10. Compared to their opponents, this team starts slightly behind for the final victory but one thing is certain: no one can underestimate the OG!
VG – Vici Gaming
Vici Gaming is one of the best-known Chinese powers in the world but has not yet won a TI. The team lost to Newbee in the Grand Final at TI4.
2020 and 2021 weren’t the best years for Vici, but that doesn’t mean the Chinese esports organization doesn’t have what it takes to win.
Vici Gaming was one of the most successful teams in 2019. The Chinese powerhouse was able to overcome most of the events and won DreamLeague S11, EPICENTER Major 2019, Midas Mode.
In 2020, the team’s best result was third place in the DreamLeague S13. The good news is that VG has the players and the experience to win every event, it is up to Ori and his teammates to show the world what they are capable of.
TA -Team Aster
Team Aster is one of the Chinese teams that managed to earn a spot for the TI10 and is among the best in the country. That’s why he is among the potential favorites at this eSport event. It will certainly not be easy to compete with the best of Europe and the CIS, but this team has what it takes to do so.
Aster is in great shape this 2021, in fact after the pass for TI10, they won both season 1 and season 2 of the 2021 i-League. Unfortunately, the team failed to impress in WePlay AniMajor.
The roster is made up of notable players like Liu “White 丶 Album_ 白 学家” Yuhao. The Chinese midlaner isn’t as experienced as the team’s carry, but that doesn’t make him any less dangerous. In fact, he is often regarded as one of the most promising mid laners in the country.
Another key player, is the veteran and team captain: Zhang “LaNm” Zhicheng. At 31, LaNm is among the most experienced players on the professional scene.
Last but not least, we have Ye “Borax” Zhibiao, a player best known for his former nick – BoBoKa.
TU -Team Undying
Team Undying is relatively new to the competitive scene. Formed this year, it changed its name from “Undying” to “Team Undying”.
We are talking about an interesting team to watch closely in The International 10. After finishing third in both seasons of the Dota Pro Circuit, this roster has shown its potential in the North American scene.
Their Peruvian position1 player Enzo “Timado” Gianoli O’Connor has played with famous teams such as Infamous and VGJ.Storm. He has experience. Position 2 player, Jonathan Bryle “Bryle” Santos De Guia, played well in the DPC seasons with some experience in the NA scene.
Jonáš “SabeRLight-“ Volek plays position 3 for the team. The Czech pro played with Team Singularity and Ninjas in Pajamas.
In command of the role of position 4, David “MoonMeander” Tan Boon Yang is a player to watch. MoonMeander, on the other hand, is a veteran with experiences from compLexity Gaming, OG, and Digital Chaos.
Team Undying has a talented Korean player, Kim “DuBu” Doo-young as position-5. A refined player who played for Digital Chaos and Team Phoenix, DuBu also coached and played for Fnatic for a short time.
Beastcoast
This is the best team in South America, made up of skilled players, some of whom have been in Dota 2 for several years. This team does not start super favorite but could turn out to be a nice surprise in TI10.
Despite many shaky performances throughout 2020, Beastcoast had a good start to the year which gave a major confidence boost for this tournament in Romania. Beastcoast is one of the Dota 2 teams that can explode at any moment but there is still a lot of work to be done.
Team Spirit
Team Spirit is one of the CIS Dota 2 teams.
Despite disappointing performances during the DPC season, Team Spirit ultimately managed to qualify for TI10 via Regional Qualifiers.
After failing to impress at WePlay! Bukovel Minor, Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk, and the other people on his team did not fare well even in subsequent events.
Fortunately, it seems the team has learned from the mistakes they made. After becoming 4th in Season 1 of the Epic Prime League, TS won Season 4 of the BTS Pro Series: EU / CIS. This was the last tournament of 2020 because it took place in December.
The powerhouse of the CIS became second to the Epic League Season 3 Div 1 and won the Dota 2 Championship League 2021 S1. A few weeks later, TS became second in the S2 DPC Upper Division and won the Pinnacle Cup. The latter included some of the best teams in the region, so it was a very important event for Team Spirit.
Unfortunately, Team Spirit was unable to show their skills at WePlay AniMajor, where they finished 7th / 8th.
After the defeat at the Major, Team Spirit achieved its greatest success, winning The International Eastern European Qualifiers
Fnatic
Fnatic is the second Southeast Asian team to take part in The International 10.
Founded in 2004, they are one of the oldest teams to be part of the Dota 2 professional scene. Fnatic’s run in TI 9 was short, so they will try to keep expectations high in this T10.
Fnatic made some changes after the DPC. They brought Yang “Deth” Wu Heng as their position 3 player. ChYuan moved up to position 2 after Moon joined Team SMG. Fnatic did not qualify even after a brilliant season 1 in the DPC and had to play the regional qualifiers for a spot in Dota 2’s most renowned competition.
Regional qualifiers are an example of Fnatic’s team ability. To book their seats at The International 10, Fnatic had to face tough opponents like TNC Predator, Neon Esports and Omega Esports
Elephant
Elephant first entered the scene in 2020 after some initial bureaucratic hitches involving the Chinese company.
Despite the uncertain start, this team has shown many important elements that allow us to evaluate it as one of the main protagonists at this TI10.
Their first big win came at the CDA-FDC Championships in October 2020. Despite the good form, the team failed to climb the rankings during the 2021 season. They finished fifth in the Chinese top division in seasons 1 and 2, losing both majors. However, the OGA Dota PIT Season 5: China saw them take second place.
The team captain, fy, has been a mainstay of the Chinese DPC scene since 2012. Arguably the best Rubick player in the world, he played with Vici Gaming until 2016 when he joined PSG.LGD. Besides, he is not alone. Names like Maybe / Somnus and Paparazi / Eurus have also been synonymous with the higher level of Chinese Dota.
Alliance
Alliance has come a long way since Jonathan “Loda” Berg put together the first version of the team. That team went on to win TI 3 in 2013. That legendary roster included Loda himself, as well as a famed streamer and former pro Henrik “Admiral Bulldog” Ahnberg and current captain Gustav “s4” Magnusson.
As one of the oldest organizations in the pro Dota scene, Alliance has seen many changes in the circuit format over the years. 2021 saw yet another change to the DPC; switch to a two-season championship-style format with teams competing in their respective regions and only two majors.
It was a huge change, but Alliance seemed to slide into the new format with no problems. Resist the monstrous start of Secret’s first season, taking second place and directly qualifying for the group stage of the Singapore Major.
However, their season 1 victories ended there, with the team failing to make it to the Playoffs.
The team returned with a vengeance in Season 2, making their way to seed in Europe. Alliance went straight to the playoffs at WePlay AniMajor. There is no doubt that the current Alliance roster has the knack and synergy to take the top spot at the first Dota 2 event. Their run-through seasons 1 and 2 of the EU DPC’s high end proves it. . However, once the stakes get higher, things start to fall apart. If Alliance manages to stay calm under pressure at TI 10, it may be able to add another Aegis of Champions to its dashboard.